


come back

by GettingGreyer



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Heart-to-Heart, Light Angst, POV Missy (Doctor Who), References to Dhawan!Master, The TARDIS Ships It (Doctor Who), Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:14:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettingGreyer/pseuds/GettingGreyer
Summary: Missy is bored.She had allowed the Doctor to keep her imprisoned in the Vault under his school, but she could hardly stand it to spend all her time there. So, when the Doctor left with his new companion away on the TARDIS, Missy made her temporary escape and as she did she saw another TARDIS and a new Doctor. And she was very intrigued.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Missy
Kudos: 47





	come back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I watched series 10, so I might have fudged up some details there but hopefully not too much. This fic was both a joy and an utter pain to write. At times I utterly loved it and at other times I was just ramming the keyboard to get it done. The editing process helped to even it out a bit, so hopefully, you won't be able to notice which parts had me rolling my eyes and just rushing to complete it.

The Doctor had left yet again. He had been doing that a bit frequently—he must have finally adopted another human pet to take on as a companion. The thought irked at her, Missy could never understand the Doctor's attachment to a species who lived so slowly and aged so quickly. But in this particular instance, she was relieved that he finally found someone to drag around the stars with him (even if it wasn't her).

It meant that the Vault was unguarded.

She made quick work of the security and slid outside of her prison. It took much longer to cover her tracks and make sure her escape wouldn't be noticed. She planned to return—to see her attempt at "being good" carried out as she had promised the Doctor, at least until she bored of it—but being caught escaping would certainly not convince the Doctor of her honest intentions.

She had no nefarious schemes in mind—she was just bored. Which, in the past, admittedly, usually led to a nefarious scheme but she was sure she could find something mundane to occupy herself with until the Doctor returned and she'd have to stealthily slip back inside her cage.

The thought was ludicrous—returning to the Doctor's control! Running away permanently and crafting a nefarious scheme would be so much easier—much more entertaining too. But she was starting to realize that friendship took work and effort, a lot more than it took to be enemies, and more than anything she wanted to be friends with the Doctor again. She wanted him to trust her as he did so long ago when they were just two young and confused boys desperately trying to prove themselves within the Academy's confining walls.

It was lifetimes ago, their friendship, and perhaps it was impossible to even recapture the ghost of it, but Missy had to believe that it was possible. She could change, both of them could, and perhaps they'd be friends once more.

Missy finished up her work after she was certain there was no trace of her exit. Unless someone entered the chamber, and only the Doctor ever did, they would not realize her absence, and she would return long before the Doctor did anyway. Missy exited the underground room that housed her prison and was met with the pristine air and blue sky.

It was refreshing and a bit revolting. She enjoyed the new freedom and the clean air, but she disdained any enjoyment she felt towards this primitive planet. Being trapped here for so long had really raddled her mind if a bit of sunshine was enough to allow positive feelings to emerge.

Missy wandered around the campus grounds, debating how much trouble she could cause that would go unnoticed. In the end, she decided that the answer was very little but that didn't stop her from sowing a little chaos. She directed a new student to the wrong building, instigated a fight between two loud and angry boys, and told a young woman that her boyfriend was cheating on her. 

Technically, that could be argued as an act of good. He was indeed cheating on her and it was for her betterment that she knew. The Doctor should be proud of her for that good deed, even if it did entertain her quite a bit to watch the young woman throw a drink in the scoundrel's face and soak his clothes with soda.

But still, it was a sad fact about Missy's life that this was the most chaos she could manage without stepping on the Doctor's toes. She'd leave the campus, which the Doctor kept a close eye on, and find somewhere outside of the Doctor's current protection but she had to remain close by if she wanted to hear the sound of the TARDIS' arrival.

And just as she thought that—she heard the familiar wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS engines as it slid into the proper time and reality. Missy quickly began to depart and return to the Vault, but when she looked back at the materializing blue box she noticed that it looked slightly different from the one she had last seen. The differences were subtle at first glance, the sign was black with white lettering instead of the reverse, but the more Missy stared at it the more starkly different this TARDIS appeared to be.

It was the same ship but from a different time. Missy smiled, perhaps she should stay a while and see what this other Doctor was doing here.

She walked confidently to the box and grabbed the handle to swing it open. She expected some resistance and was prepared to coax the box, but it surprisingly opened its doors to her smoothly. Missy wasn't sure what to make of that reaction, but she didn't spend much time thinking about it, not after being confronted with the hideous interior.

"You've redecorated." There were crystalline yellow pillars jutting from the floor and angling themselves to the console which also had a gaudy yellow crystal at its center. "This is utterly ridiculous! What do you even call this style? I know your tastes are bizarre Doctor, but really?"

Missy looked around for the Doctor's familiar presence—she was expecting a different face—and only saw the guarded faces of three humanoid figures. A young man, a young girl, and an older man—not at all an unusual configuration of the Doctor and their companions. But the older man looked nothing like the Doctor. His face could very well be it, but he dressed in such a bland and  _ human _ fashion that he could never be the Doctor.

Which meant he was a companion. Three companions! This Doctor sure had his hands full.

"Who are you and what are you doing in the TARDIS?" The older man who was most certainly not the Doctor asked.

"Do not be alarmed, humans. I have no desire to harm you, yet. I am simply looking for the Doctor."

"Yet!" The young man caught her phrasing it seemed and he had a panicked look about him.

"Yes, yet, if you don't want that to be sooner than you best tell me where the Doctor is. I have no desire to play with his companions."

"Missy?" A new voice, a new but familiar one, spoke and out from a nearby corridor walked in a beautiful woman. She had short blonde hair that framed her face and her eyes were a lovely shade of hazel. She wore blue trousers that were held up by yellow suspenders, her shirt had a rainbow plaster across its chest, and she had a hanging white coat that wrapped itself around her. Missy recognized who this woman was instantly.

"Doctor, I see you've copied me—becoming a woman. I must say, I do like the new look even if the outfit … leaves much to be desired." Missy did quite like the earring, however, the Doctor never wore an earring before and she loved how it looked on this new face.

"What are you doing here?" As usual, the Doctor went straight to the point. One day, the Doctor would engage with Missy's flirting without her having to resort to more drastic measures.

"It seems I accidentally wound up on the wrong TARDIS. Whoopsie." Missy winked and she could tell that the Doctor didn't believe her for a second.

"Who is she?" One of the humans spoke, Missy didn't really care which one.

The Doctor considered the question as she walked over to them. Missy noticed how she took care to stand right between Missy and her precious companions. "Gang, this is Missy." The humans looked like they wanted to ask more, but the Doctor silenced them with a sudden question directed at Missy. "Where are you? In your timeline?"

Missy laughed, "You must know, Doctor. Assuming you are Eyebrows' future?" The Doctor nodded in confirmation. "I thought so. You have, after all, never been a woman before—unless you've been keeping secrets from me."

The Doctor didn't say anything. She had a peculiar expression on her face, one that was utterly guarded. Missy had been enemies with the Doctor for a long time, so she was used to the hostility, but never before had the Doctor felt so distant and unknown to her. She knew the Doctor—everything about them, but she felt like she knew nothing about her, the Doctor standing in front of Missy.

"I'm currently in the Vault, or at least I'm meant to be. I was bored so I escaped briefly and then I saw your ship and thought—well, this is interesting. So, tell me, Doctor, what are you doing here? It isn't like you to step too closely to your own time stream … unless you need something."

"That's none of your concern," the Doctor spoke and there was a dimension of malice in her voice. Clearly, Missy had done something to upset her, or rather would do something. She didn't know how to feel about that. It was to be expected considering their history, but it left an uncomfortable churning in her gut.

"Can someone tell us what's going on?" The girl spoke now and she sounded quite agitated indeed.

"Bit slow aren't you? Very well, I shall repeat myself. I'm Missy, short for Mistress, otherwise known as—"

"The Master," the older man's voice was near silent as those words slipped from his lips and his face was a ghastly pale color. The other two humans were startled at their friend's words but they quickly adopted the same pallored fear.

"What? It can't be—"

"They can change, remember?"

The three whispered and mumbled amongst themselves. They had met her before, a future version of her, and she had terrified them. The thought delighted her, but again, there was that painful churning in her gut. She didn't want to think about what their fear meant—what the Doctor's anger meant.

"Ah, so you've heard of me. Very good. It keeps everything simple."

"You tried to—"

"Yaz!" The Doctor shouted. "Don't say another word. Nobody say another word!"

Missy quirked an eyebrow at that. It seemed like things were rather tense on the TARDIS at the moment between the Doctor and her companions. "I assure you,  _ human _ , that whatever I have done to you I haven't done it yet. Though, I must say I am absolutely looking forward to it."

"I said, quiet." Missy was startled at the animosity in the Doctor's voice. The woman, who Missy thought seemed so familiar had become so very foreign, glared at Missy before turning to her companions. "I'll take care of this. Just go."

"But, Doctor—"

The older man interrupted the young girl, Yaz, with a shake of his head. She looked to the Doctor with concern before conceding.

"Okay, Doc. You be careful now." The man eyed Missy warily and she gave him a sinister smile. "We'll be in the library if you need anything." The trio of humans began to walk away and Missy was ready to discard them from her mind, but then the man stopped again and looked back one last time, "And we will be talkin' about this later."

The Doctor looked guilty at that final remark and she continued looking guilty up until the footsteps of the companions faded from hearing. And then she looked angry again.

"Bit harsh to your companions. Rather unusual for you, Doctor." The Doctor didn't say anything, but instead stalked angrily towards the console of her ship. "Especially to that young girl, Yaz was it? Always so cold hearted to the pretty girls who devote themselves to you." The Doctor slammed buttons and yanked at levers, her eyes rapidly combing over screens. The only indication she was listening to Missy was the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"You should leave." The Doctor finally said, ignoring Missy's bait.

"It's not fair to be angry at me for something I haven't done yet."

The Doctor laughed. Missy loved the Doctor's laughter—their exuberance and joy, the utter delight it always held—but this was not a usual laugh. It was cold, empty, and vicious. 

"What about the past? What about everything else you've done? There's a long trail of bodies and blood behind you, long before you ever called yourself Missy!"

"I—" These words aren't new. Missy had gotten used to the Doctor's anger and pleads, but hearing it from this Doctor—a future Doctor—stung more than she would ever admit to. "You forgave me."

Again, the Doctor didn't look up from the console. It was as if Missy wasn't even worthy of being looked at. She wanted to force the Doctor to look at her—she needed the Doctor's attention.

"Perhaps," Missy tried to look into the Doctor's eyes, but they were hidden behind her hair and shielded from view. "I was too forgiving."

Was it all pointless? If this was her future—the Doctor resenting her and hating her?

"Why are you here?" Missy finally asked.

And at last, the Doctor looked at her, "I didn't mean to be."

"Do tell?" Missy stared at the Doctor's hazel eyes—she really liked these new eyes and the way the colors swirled and shifted in the light—and tried to understand what she was seeing. 

"I was … looking for someone." The Doctor's hands began to shake against the console. "I tracked a signal, but I landed here for some reason. I checked the engines to see if a fault lay there, but no, there is no fault." Her fingers clenched into tight fists. "Just the TARDIS."

"Someone … would that be me?"

The Doctor didn't say anything for a moment and that was confirmation enough, but then in whispers, she said, "Too much knowledge of the future risks tearing us both apart." Missy rolled her eyes at the Doctor's exaggeration. They've both messed with the web of time on several occasions and they've yet to spiral out of existence. "I shouldn't even be here. The TARDIS should know better not to take me here!"

"Then why did she?"

"What?"

"You said it yourself, Doctor, the TARDIS knows better than anyone or anything where not to step. Yet she did." Missy walked over to the Doctor. She reached out her hand, but hesitated and let it fall back to her side. "Why did she take that step?"

"She's old." The TARDIS whined angrily. "And broken!" The Doctor retorted, but she had a small smile and Missy knew that the Doctor didn't believe those words.

"Well, you were right. I must go before the other Doctor returns." Missy began to walk away and as she did she could hear the whirring of the TARDIS once more and then a hand suddenly reached out and pulled her back. Missy found herself face to face with the Doctor, who was staring straight at her, before being pulled into a kiss.

The Doctor had been so far from Missy, but now she was so close. Missy could smell the Doctor and she carried the same familiar scent as she did when they were children running through the grass under a Gallifreyan sky—she was familiar. Yet everything else was so different. The Doctor's lips were softer than Missy had ever known them to be and they were less cautious—the Doctor kissed with a certainty that she never had before. Her lips moved deliberately and it overpowered Missy in a way that she loved and despised.

Missy had to be in control—she was the one who constantly teased and tortured the Doctor. But this Doctor had surprised her and was quickly taking that control from Missy's grasp and not only that, she was doing it in a way that made Missy  _ like it _ , almost craving the submission. The Doctor's hand, so much smaller and more delicate than it had ever been before, cradled Missy's face as the Doctor's tongue danced over Missy's lips, before being abruptly pulled away.

The Doctor was looking at her completely and irrevocably, her hands still dangling in Missy's hair with their lips only centimeters apart. "That was," Missy stared at the empty space between them. "New." And Missy closed the distance and reunited their lips, kissing with a frenzy that her shock hadn't allowed her to before.

Missy refused to give up total control and her lips stole as much control from the Doctor as she could manage. Her tongue slipped eagerly into the Doctor's mouth who moaned in response. Missy was the aggressor now and all the Doctor could do was respond to Missy's ministrations.

But then, Missy felt the hands leave her hair and wander lower—and Missy began to lose control once again. The Doctor's fingers danced across Missy's body. They were all-consuming in their conquest, the left hand moved lower while the right reached higher. The Doctor's hands didn't fumble in their journey. She squeezed Missy's bottom, causing an involuntary shudder throughout Missy's body, and her other hand palmed at Missy's breast. She squeezed gentle as her fingers worked gingerly against the clothed nipple. 

Missy wasn't one to let herself lose so easily. She didn't break the kiss as she pressed her hips forward and pressed a leg in between the Doctor's thighs. The touch was brief, but the Doctor reacted instantly with a quiet groan and when Missy pressed her knee higher against the Doctor's center she could feel the whining vibrations of the woman in their kiss.

The Doctor broke the kiss and began to softly kiss down Missy's throat. Her lips paused for a moment, her first and only hesitation, before quickly biting down at the nape of Missy's neck. The Doctor licked and suckled at the small bite and Missy's hips surged forward in delight. Then she began to nipple at her ear—Missy had always been so sensitive there—and Missy felt every bit of control she had grappled with slip away from her fingers and she didn't care.

"We should go somewhere else," the Doctor whispered and the breath against her ear caused a rippled of electricity and adrenaline to course through Missy's veins. They were both so tense—rippling with energy that was soon going to boil over and snap.

They quickly found a room. Missy wasn't even sure if they walked there because they had been kissing and groping the entire time. She didn't realize they had arrived until the Doctor pushed her onto the bed.

Missy wasn't used to this. The Doctor never instigated and in the past few (perhaps more than a few) times they had done this, Missy had always been on top. But she found she liked being under the Doctor who was consumed by her own emotions, who had let go of that silly facade she showed her companions.

The Doctor shoved off her coat and began to remove her shirt. "Take off your clothes," the Doctor's voice was demanding. Missy resented being told what to do, but the authority in her voice sent a wave of heat through her. They pulled off their clothes in unison, roughly tearing them off and throwing them in the corner of the room.

Missy was still wiggling out of her underwear when the Doctor began kissing down Missy's chest, too eager to keep still and wait for a single moment. The Doctor swiftly removed Missy's last garment as her tongue swirled over one of Missy's hardened nippled. Missy' back arched as the Doctor sucked.

Missy moaned as her hips shivered under the Doctor, bucking uselessly as she attempted to find that much-needed friction. The Doctor's mouth switched to her other nipple while her hand slowly stroked down Missy's body. The Doctor's other hand pulled Missy closer to her and tightly gripped her bottom, her fingers flexing into the skin, and the Doctor's teeth lightly nipped at her blossoming breasts. And the Doctor's hand kept slowly snaking its way down to Missy's core.

Missy's mind struggled to make sense of all of the sensations she felt. The Doctor's skin was everywhere and it felt like her lips and fingers were everywhere as well. The Doctor's hand finally reached Missy's throbbing heat between her legs. Missy struggled to maintain any dignity of control after she felt a single finger probe through her folds as a soft thumb pressed lightly against her clit. Missy was shaking with pleasured anticipation.

"This is very different," the Doctor said. "With you as a woman."

"Likewise," Missy's mind flooded with past images of pushing the Doctor to the floor as she took him from behind. And then she remembered taking the Doctor's hard member into her mouth and— "You meant to do that, didn't you? Make me remember?" The memories only served to increase the throbbing between her legs and make her more desperate and needy for release.

The Doctor didn't answer, but her smile told Missy everything she needed to know. She pressed a kiss against Missy's forward, breathed in their combined smell of sex, and then plunged two fingers into Missy's center. Missy whined immediately and her voice only continued to waver with the Doctor's movements and thrusts. 

The Doctor kissed Missy's neck and suckled at the red mark she had made before. Her fingers flexed inside Missy as her wetness dripped into the rest of her hand. The Doctor returned her attention to Missy's breast which were still swollen and tender. The Doctor pushed in a third finger and Missy was so delightfully full. The Doctor's lips kissed every inch of Missy's breast as her other hand reached for an unattended mound. Her thumb rolled circles against Missy's clit as she thrust deeper into Missy. Her fingers gently squeezed and pulled at Missy's tender nipple while the Doctor licked the other.

Missy panted and whined with every movement—the Doctor's body had become intertwined with her own pleasure and she felt herself getting tighter and tighter with tension. Her hips thrust against the Doctor's hand in a desperate bid for release.

"Faster—" Missy mumbled between her whines, "More."

The Doctor was moving so rhythmically and at a constant tempo, but Missy needed more. The Doctor switched pace and thrusted harder and faster into Missy. Missy felt that knot growing tighter as it was pulled and pulled. The Doctor's thumb stopped their movements and instead Missy felt the Doctor's entire palm slammed against her clit as the Doctor thrust into her. And then the knot broke and Missy lost all control.

Her center convulsed and pulsed around the Doctor's fingers as she kept thrusting into and out of Missy. She felt every bit of bubbled energy soar to the surface as every part of her body became inflamed in pleasure. And then the energy dissipated and Missy felt only a dull and pleasant throbbing alongside her satisfaction.

The Doctor removed her fingers and Missy felt so achingly empty without their familiar weight inside of her. The Doctor looked at Missy, her hazel eyes swimming with arousal, as she sucked Missy's wetness off her fingers. The sight caused a build of a new bristling wave of arousal.

The Doctor moved down Missy's body and swung her legs around her head, the Doctor's lips were only mere centimeters from Missy's nether lips. The Doctor moved away from them and instead licked at Missy's inner thighs. Her tongue was so close to where Missy wanted it to be. The Doctor lapped at the remaining arousal from Missy's prior orgasm that had slid down her thighs. 

Missy's clit twitched at the unbearable closeness of the Doctor's tongue. She moved up, her tongue now licking the innermost part of her thigh, but still avoiding Missy's pulsating core.

"Doctor, hurry up, will you!" Missy's hips twitched without her meaning to and they surged forward, closer to the Doctor's lips.

The Doctor smiled and then she placed her tantalizing lips around Missy's swollen bud. Missy's thighs tightened around the Doctor's head and her eyes squeezed shut as she gave in to the feelings of bliss. The Doctor's tongue flicked and swirled over her clitoris, sending a build of electricity throughout her body. She felt the tension rising through her as Missy came close, edging closer to the end that would push to her ecstasy. But just as she reached the edge the Doctor stopped and removed her mouth.

"Say please," the Doctor said and Missy felt another disturbing wave of arousal at the request. The Doctor usually didn't like to play these games, but here she was, her head between Missy's thighs with a feral grin and darkening eyes. 

"Please," Missy didn't like begging, but perhaps this is where she was always headed, ever since she begged for the Doctor to spare her. And now she begs her to grant her another mind-blowing orgasm. Poetic, perhaps?

"And my name. Say my name too."

"Please, Doctor. Please, Doctor!" Missy whispered and murmured the words again and again in a desperate frenzy and the Doctor rewarded her.

The Doctor's tongue slid through Missy's folds and she instinctively thrust her hips forward for more friction. The Doctor's tongue and lips were relentless in their pursual and Missy felt herself edging closer and closer to the edge. She half-feared the Doctor would stop and pull her back from it, but instead her tongue flicked over Missy's clit and sent her falling over the edge.

Missy continued to say the Doctor's name as her entire body pulsating with electricity and hummed with waves of pleasure. The Doctor continued to lick her out as Missy road through her orgasm. Each time Missy thought she was finished, the Doctor's lips would start another cascading wave of ecstasy. By the time the Doctor had finally removed her mouth from Missy's core, she was entirely spent and exhausted.

The Doctor licked her lips which were plumb and covered in Missy's arousal. She surged forward and captured those lips with her own. She stroked her tongue across the Doctor's lips and could taste herself there. 

"Now," Missy said as her hands moved down the Doctor's body. "Are you going to let me return the favor?"

"It's …" The Doctor avoided Missy's eyes as her voice grew awkward, losing all the previous confidence it had when the Doctor had demanded Missy to beg. It was cute—how quickly she switched from being the Oncoming Storm to a bumbling idiot. "It's still new … and unfamiliar … this body."

Realization dawned on Missy as the Doctor's words set in, "Have you not—"

"No," the Doctor's hazel eyes occasionally met Missy's before turning away. "I haven't gotten used to this new body yet. Over a thousand years as a man and it's only been two as a woman."

Missy didn't really have much trouble with the transition. It was a new body and she had delighted in all of the changes, but the Doctor had always been resistant to change.

"Touch me," the Doctor pushed Missy back onto the bed. She grabbed Missy's hand and placed it on her breast. "Touch me … but let me take care of the rest." The Doctor wrapped her legs around Missy's thigh with her soaking core dripping down onto Missy's leg.

The Doctor hissed in pleasure as her sex rubbed against Missy's leg. The expression on her face was utterly beautiful—her lips were slightly parted, her face flushed crimson, and strands of her golden hair drifted onto her face, but there was one thing missing that Missy needed to have.

"Open your eyes, love." Her hands gently squeezed the Doctor's soft breasts as her fingers pressed on a hardened nipple. "Open them, I need to see your eyes."

Her hazel eyes opened and they were focused utterly and completely on Missy and the pleasure she was getting from her. The Doctor's breath hitched as she rode Missy's leg and Missy's hands worked to massage the Doctor's breast. Missy wanted to touch lower and delve deep into the Doctor's burning heat, but she wasn't ready for that yet, perhaps next time.

The Doctor had always been extremely vocal and Missy was pleased to learn that she remained so with this regeneration. She grunted with every movement of her hips and a tiny mewl would escape her throat each time Missy squeezed one of her nipples. Missy leaned up and kissed the Doctor's breasts, her tongue circling the hard and sensitive nub that she'd been playing with and the Doctor moaned loudly in response.

Missy loved those sounds and she knew by the ragged breathing that the Doctor was close. She pressed long kisses into the Doctor's throat while she kneaded her breasts. She could feel the growing slick against her leg as the Doctor reached her peak. "Doctor," Missy nippled at the Doctor's ear before whispering her next words, "Look at me when you come."

Those words seemed to be what pulled the Doctor over the edge, because shortly after she released a loud moan. Her body grew stiff and slack as her body vibrated with pleasure. Missy stared into the Doctor's eyes which were overcome with pleasure, "That's it, love."

"Don't—don't leave," the words startled them both and Missy was sure the Doctor hadn't meant to say them. She groaned as she finished, succumbing to her orgasm, and fell to the side of the bed.

And Missy laid down beside the Doctor. She should leave, she had forgotten about the other Doctor waiting for her—who hopefully hadn't yet noticed her absence, but she didn't want to just yet. This Doctor was still a mystery she wanted to unravel, even if it unraveled her own future.

"What did you mean?"

"I didn't say anything," and the Doctor was avoiding eye contact once again.

"You did, love. You told me not to leave." The churning from before, that had been blissfully absent since the Doctor kissed her, returned in full force. 

The Doctor was silent and Missy thought she would never answer, she didn't expect her to, but then in a half-hearted whisper the Doctor said, "Don't do it." Her voice was fragile and vulnerable, torn in a rampage of competing emotions. "Don't leave me when I need you the most."

Missy wanted to ask about her own future—the one thing a Time Lord was forbidden from knowing. They could travel across time and space, no secret of history was left untouched or out of reach except for their own. Missy wanted to know, but she didn't dare for she feared the answer.

"I don't make promises." Missy paused. "Well, I do. I just tend to break them."

"I know," The Doctor laughed, a sound that was both genuine and false. "Me too. We both have that in common."

The Doctor looked almost at peace with that. Her face was calm and she seemed to accept that, but her eyes had always revealed so much more and they were angled in weary anger and defiance, as well as a sadness that could only come from the Doctor's misplaced compassion. And that was the Doctor that Missy was fighting for—the one that still fought for them after all these centuries.

"Doctor," Missy's voice was brittle and she felt that if she lied it would crack under the weight of a mistruth. "If I do leave … I promise that I'll come back. I'll always come back. That is one thing you can be sure will always be true." And she meant it.

Missy had never meant anything more than those words. Lately, she hardly knew what she was doing or what she was meant for. Letting herself be the Doctor's prisoner and allowing him to "redeem" her—she had chosen and was still choosing to do this, but she barely understood why. But she meant these words to this Doctor and she knew them to be conclusively true. She couldn't leave the Doctor even if she wanted to—she'd always return.

The Doctor didn't respond, but Missy didn't need her to. That uncomfortable churning had finally faded away.

"Perhaps, this is why she came here."

"Who?"

"The TARDIS." Missy listened to the quiet near indiscernible humming of the ship. She had always looked after the Doctor and Missy could tell that now more than ever the Doctor needed to be looked after. "Perhaps she wanted us to talk."

The Doctor didn't say anything for a long time and Missy thought that might be the last words they shared, but then, "Maybe." The Doctor reached across the bed and grabbed Missy's hand, her thumb gently rolling over her knuckles, "Maybe."

And they laid there for a few more silent peaceful minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two ended up being surprisingly soft and honest with each other. I didn't initially set out to make them that way in this fic, but it ended up happening. I almost feel like I made them a bit too OOC by not having them fight so much. But, I mean, I did set out to just write smut and I had to come up with a couple contrived reasons for how it happened (luckily the TARDIS is there!) so I'll forgive myself for that.
> 
> I'm working on kind of an epilogue about Thirteen and how this encounter affected her, but it's been a very painful process writing it. I was hoping to write it in time to just post it at the same time as ch. one, but I figured I should just post what I have now before this fic sits in my drafts forever.


End file.
